CHELTENHAM, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 11, 2018--The TBS Engineering Group has launched a global campaign to showcase the importance of the lead acid battery in our day-to-day lives and to raise awareness of its green credentials.

Today, a vast majority of the world’s energy storage needs are met by lead acid batteries.

The lead acid battery is a key component in an estimated 1.2 billion vehicles on the world’s roads; as well as essential back up power for the likes of hospitals and data centres.

Aircraft and military vehicles rely on lead acid batteries as does the telecommunication infrastructure that keeps us digitally connected. This is in addition to energy storage for solar farms and other forms of renewable energy that feed households and industry. All are essential to our lives every day.

But it’s a little known fact that the lead acid battery is one of the most recycled products on the planet – with a 99.3 percent recycling rate, millions of lead-acid batteries are diverted from landfill every year (1).

Chris Hanes, TBS Group Corporate Growth & Marketing Director said:

“It’s an important message that we want to share. We want consumers to feel proud in the knowledge the batteries in their cars and that support our everyday lives have been recycled and reused by many generations.”

By 2035 there will be over 2 billion cars on the world’s roads (2) – the majority of which will include a lead acid battery.

By virtue of its name, the lead acid battery has been much maligned in recent years, with the introduction of newer chemistries, such as lithium-ion.

But TBS says the lead acid battery remains the most cost effective and greenest form of rechargeable battery in existence:

“These types of technology and the growing importance of electromobility are pushing our industry to be that much better. We’re rising to the challenge with the best possible solutions and development of the advanced lead acid battery.

“Even with the introduction of alternative battery technologies we still have no cost-effective alternatives for cars, golf carts and the many other applications. It’s a unique product. No other battery can be applied in quite the same way and meet the same requirements.”

By 2020, it is predicted that start-stop technology utilising lead batteries will help eliminate 2 million tons of vehicle greenhouse gas emissions annually in the U.S. alone. This is equivalent to the annual energy use of 211,000 average U.S. households (3).

In 2018 the global lead-acid battery market was valued at $48.56 billion – a figure predicted to rise at a rate of 7.14% by 2020 .(4)

Chris adds: “It’s a progressive industry that has been growing since it was established over 150 years ago.”

“Over the coming years we look forward to bringing many new technologies to market, while celebrating our industry’s rich history.”

Reflecting TBS’ confidence in the market, the energy storage expert has recently invested over £15m in a new state-of-the art global group headquarters in the UK, where it manufactures the machines that its customers produce many millions of batteries on every year.